MIKE GRACIA

It was on this day in 2005.
    
    
    
    
   

It was on this day in 1865.

John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865)

Public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing began on this day in 1987 with testimony from Oliver North.

Oliver Laurence North will be 75 in October.

On this day in 1981, United States President Reagan announced he
was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the
first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Ronald W. Reagan talks with Supreme Court nominee
Sandra Day O’Conner at the White House on July 15, 1981.

Former Beatle drummer Ringo Starr (Sir Richard Starkey) is 78 today.  

SANDY KOZEL

Pictured from left: Elvis Presley, bass player Bill Black, guitarist
Scotty Moore and Sun Records and Memphis Recording studio
head Sam Phillips take a break from a recording session in
Memphis.

Elvis Presley’s first commercial recording session took place in
Memphis, TN. on this day in 1954. He recorded "That’s All Right
(Mama)" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky."

The bikini bathing suit, created by Louis Reard, made its debut
during a fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris on this day in
1946. Micheline Bernardini wore the two-piece outfit.

Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Wimbledon singles
title when he defeated Jimmy Connors on this day in 1975.

Jimmy Connors (left) congratulates Arthur Ash.

On this day in 1947, Larry Doby signed a contract with the
Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the
American League.

Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003)

Ted Williams in 1939.

Theodore Williams (Theodore Samuel Williams)
(August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002)

Ted Williams played his entire 19-year Major League
Baseball career as a left fielder for the Boston Red S
ox from 1939 to 1960, only interrupted by service time
during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed
"The Kid", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest
players in baseball history, despite being a below
average defensive left fielder. Williams was a nineteen-
time All-Star, a two-time recipient of the American
League Most Valuable Player Award, a six-time AL
batting champion, and a two-time Triple Crown
winner.

Ted Williams finished his playing career with a .344
batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base
percentage, the highest of all time. His career batting
average is the highest of any MLB player whose career
was played primarily in the live-ball era, and ranks tied
for 7th all-time (with Billy Hamilton). Williams retired
from playing in 1960 and was inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1966. He died of cardiac arrest at the age
of 83 on July 5, 2002.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1934, Adolf Hitler purged the Nazi Party by destroying
the SA and bringing to power the SS in the "Night of the Long
Knives."

America’s food and drug safety took a big step forward with the
Pure Food and Drug Act on this day in 1906.

The Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 11 returned to Earth on this day in
1971. The three cosmonauts (left) were found dead inside.

Margaret Mitchell (above) with her book, "Gone with the Wind,"
that was published on this day 1936.

The 1939 epic historical romance film, adapted from the Margaret
Mitchell novel.

On this day in 1994, The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped
Tonya Harding (left) of the 1994 national championship and banned
her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan (right).

Nancy Kerrigan just after the attack.

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010)

Twentieth-century African-American singer and actress Lena Horne
famously sang "Stormy Weather," won a Grammy Award for a 1981
album entitled Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, and appeared
in film versions of The Wiz, Broadway Rhythm, and Ziegfeld Follies.

Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the
1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000. Horne died of
congestive heart failure on May 9, 2010, at the age of 92.

TIM MAGUIRE

The assassination on this day in 1914 sparked World War-ll.

On this day in 2000, six-year-old Elián González returned to Cuba
from the U.S. with his father. The child had been the center of an international custody dispute.

Federal agents seized Elián González, held in a closet by Donato Dalrymple, in Miami in April 2000. Dalrymple rescued the boy
from the ocean after his mother drowned when they tried to
escape Cuba.

On this day in 1997, boxer Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting
part of Evander Holyfield’s ear after three rounds of their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas, NV.

Referee Mills Lane checks the ear of WBA heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield after it was bitten by Mike Tyson.

Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979)

Richard Rodgers was an American composer, with over 900 songs and
43 Broadway musicals, leaving a legacy as one of the most significant
composers of 20th century American music. He is best known for his
songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar
Hammerstein II. His compositions have had a significant impact on
popular music.

Richard Rodgers (left) and Oscar Hammerstein ll.

1955

1965

Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky) is 92 years old today.

Mel Brooks was the director of the classic satirical comedies Blazing
Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Spaceballs (1987), High
Anxiety (1977), The Producers (1967) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights
(1993). Brooks belongs to an exclusive club of entertainers as the
recipient of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Mel Brooks in Spaceballs.